APRIL -20, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



457 



SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBES AND LAXGUAGES. 



In the February nuniber of the Journal of 

 tlie Anthropological Institute, Mr. Clements 

 K. Markhani, republishes his ' List of Tribes 

 in the valley of the Amazon,' which first 

 appeared about twenty years ago. Of course 

 there are many improvements in the 

 enumeration ; but it is amazing to note that 

 by far the best recent authorities are not 

 referred to, and their material is ignored. 

 In the ' list of authorities ' there is no men- 

 tion, for instance, of the names of Von Den 

 Steinen, Ehrenreich or Barbosa Rodriguez. 

 For the linguistics he quotes Dr. Latliam as 

 still the authority. In fact, the best work 

 done in Amazonian ethnograjjhy within the 

 last decade is not mentioned nor utilized. 



Some interesting studies in the languages 

 of the Argentine Republic should not be 

 overlooked. The Allentiac was a language, 

 now extinct, spoken in the vicinity of San 

 Juan de la Frontera. A little catechism, 

 grammar and vocabulary of it was printed 

 by Father Louis de Valdivia in 1607, of 

 which onl J' one perfect copy is known . This 

 has been edited with a useful introduction 

 by Jose T. Medina (Sevilla, 1894), and has 

 been made the subject of a neat study by 

 General Bartolome Mitre (Estudio Biblio- 

 grafico linguistico de las Obras de Valdivia, 

 La Plativ, 1894; pp. 1.53). He inclines to 

 consider it a separate stock. 



The well-known Argentine linguist, Sam- 

 uel A. Lafone (^uevedo, lias added another 

 to the list of his valuable monographs by a 

 thorough study of the mysterious Lule 

 language ( Los Lules ; Estudio Filologico, 

 Buenos Aires, 1894, pp. 14.j). It is ba.sed, 

 of course, on the grammar of Machoni,and 

 reaches the conclusion that the modern are 

 not the ancient Lules, and Machoni's gram- 

 mar is that of a tongue which belongs with 

 the Quichuan gi'oup, and not among those 

 of the Gran Chaco. 



D. G. Brinton. 



University of Pe.vssvlvania. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



A LARGE REFLECTOR FOR THE LICK 



OBSERVATORY. 



Mr. Edward Crossley, F. R. A. S., of 

 Halifax, England, has offered to present 

 his 3-foot reflecting telescope to the Lick 

 Observatorj- with its apparatus and dome, 

 complete. The grateful thanks of the Ob- 

 servatory are returned for this generous and 

 highly appreciated gift. 



Edward S. Holden. 



Mount Hamilton, April 4, 1895. 



SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 

 Alternatiiuj Generations. A Biological Study of 

 Oak GalU and Gall Flies. By Herman 

 Abler, M. D. Schleswig. Translated 

 and edited by Charles R. Straton. 

 New York, Macmillau & Co. 

 The recent appearance, from the Claren- 

 don press, of an edition of Dr. Herman Ad- 

 ler's celebrated work, which was published 

 some fourteen years ago, on alternating gen- 

 erations among the Cinipidte, being a bio- 

 logical study of oak galls and gall-flies, will 

 be welcomed by all interested in the sub- 

 ject, especiallj' by those who do not read 

 German or French. The English transla- 

 tion is by Charles R. Straton. The work 

 consists of: (] ) an introduction by the edi- 

 tor ; (2) the translation proper, to which 

 the editor iias added, in brackets and in 

 smaller type, the popular English name of 

 the gall, the jiarticular oak upon which it 

 is found, and a list of the inquilines and 

 parasites that have been reared from each 

 species ; (3) as Appendix I., by the editor, 

 a full account of Cynips kolluri Hartig ; 

 (4) as Appendix II., a synoptical table of 

 oak galls ; (5) as Appendix III., a classifi- 

 cation of the Cynipidie, and (fi) a bibliog- 

 raphy. 



The synoptical table of oak-galls (Cynipi- 

 dpe alone included) is based on European 

 species ; while the classification includes 

 not only European but a certain number of 



